Failed Gaza operation topples senior Israeli intelligence officer

The failure of the Israeli Special Forces operation in Khan Younis last year continues to plague the leaders of Israel’s army intelligence division, Aman, with the resignation of a senior officer, local media have reported. Yedioth Ahronoth revealed on Sunday that the resignation is a direct result of the failure of the operation last November.

According to the newspaper, the resignation of Lieutenant Colonel Y takes effect this week. He will be replaced by Colonel J, who was called up for military service after completing his duties in Aman. Lieutenant Colonel Y apparently played an extremely sensitive role in Aman’s Special Operations Unit; so sensitive, in fact, that it cannot even be described in general terms.

Yedioth Ahronoth, however, indicated that the intelligence officer “was directly responsible for the results of the failed operation in Khan Younis, which led to the death of Lieutenant Colonel M, who worked under the command of Y, although they held the same rank.”

The report pointed out that Y spent many years in Aman and led several special operations. As part of his work, he put the failed operation in Khan Younis together. Investigations concluded that the preparation was marred by “large gaps”. As the investigations continue, it added, “Investigators are discovering more sensitive issues which will have a wide-ranging impact on all activities of the Special Operations Unit.”

READ: Israel’s Shin Bet refuses work permits for 5,000 Gazans 

Earlier this month, the official results of the investigation into the Khan Younis operation, some of which have been released by the Israeli army, revealed that Lt. Col. M had been shot dead by his own soldiers. Inquiries have focused on the reasons for Hamas’s suspicion about the Israeli troops who were all in disguise during the incursion into the Gaza Strip. However, the answers have not been published, although Haaretz claims that, “Something in the behaviour of the Israeli force raised the Palestinians’ suspicions, including members of the military wing of Hamas.”

Since the failed operation, Aman has faced a severe crisis, with the Chief of the General Staff of the Israel Defence Forces, Aviv Kochavi, asking Brigadier General A to resume military service permanently in order to oversee the Special Operations Unit. The intention, apparently, is to rebuild the unit, “which was severely damaged by the failure of the special mission in Gaza last November,” Yedioth Ahronoth reported previously.

Elements of the military wing of Hamas, Al-Qassam Brigades, discovered the Israeli Special Forces who infiltrated Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip on Sunday evening, 11 November, 2018. Al-Qassam fighters under the command of Nuruddin Baraka held and interrogated the Israeli undercover soldiers for about 40 minutes, before one took them by surprise and killed Baraka when he decided to take the Israelis to a Hamas centre. The resultant fighting resulted in the death of one Israeli officer and wounding of another; seven members of the resistance were also killed. The confrontation was followed by 48 hours of military escalation between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza.

The failure of the secret operation led to the commander of the Special Operations Unit losing his job, a move which was preceded by the resignation of Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman and the Chief of the Special Staff in the Israeli army.